The present invention is directed to a method and device for producing a cable having at least one outer protective sheath and at least one electrical and/or optical fiber arranged in the interior of the sheath.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,630, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference thereto and which claims priority from the same German Application as European Published Application 0 384 201, discloses that it is old to subsequently insert an optical fiber into a pipe which has been previously installed in the ground or into cable ducts by means of a compressed air or blowing arrangement. This method presupposes that the respective pipe or cable duct has already been appropriately laid at some time before the performance of the method of inserting the additional optical fiber.
In the case of marine or submarine cables, it is known for the cable-laying ship to add or to provide an additional further protective sleeve containing tensile elements on the outside of a complete optical cable. This method presupposes the presence of a complete optical cable, which is subsequently provided only additionally with armoring elements.
The major proportion of the material used in the cable, and many of the operations necessary for their production, essentially only serve the purpose of protecting the product to a sufficient extent during transporting within the factory and from the factory to the construction site and/or to impart to the cable a capability of being moved, bent, pressed, pulled and laid. Furthermore, in the production area, it is necessary to take measures to protect the product to a sufficient extent from environmental influences during the long processing, transporting and laying times. The actual cable production takes place in buildings which have been set up specifically for this purpose, and the storage of the intermediate products must generally be carried out under a roof and within an enclosure which has a controlled climate. During the many transport journeys until the final laying of the cable, damage can be caused, which damage has to be repaired in a costly manner. In addition, during the transport, large quantities of material are to be moved, which materials are only actually partially needed or in specific part areas and, therefore, in fact, are not needed at all. Before the transport to the customer, the functional serviceability of the respective cable must be documented by means of appropriate tests. These known methods of cable production, thus, necessitate great expenditures on method steps and on test operations and, in addition, require employment of a relatively large quantity of material.